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Blood Milk Jewels

*Sold Out* Selket: Medium Scorpion Necklace with Garnet

$340.00

Blood Milk Jewels

*Sold Out* Selket: Medium Scorpion Necklace with Garnet

$340.00

Sold out

This necklace is temporarily sold out. If you are interested in being notified when it is available again, please reach out to bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com with your request. Thank you for your interest and your patience in the meantime. 

 

Over 400 millions years old (older than the Dinosaur or the Spider) the ancient Scorpion has been an image of both destruction and healing over the ages. Like the Spider, it is both nocturnal and poisonous, carrying potent venom in its stinger as well as a fierce strength in its front pincers. Many species of Scorpion are subterranean, often waiting underground in solitude, emerging to ensnare and devour its prey. This links Scorpion the Underworld like Spider; its unconscious, instinctual nature helps him conquer transformation within the shadowy depths.

Selket is a Scorpion Goddess of antiquity via Ancient Egyptian times, whose roles including guarding the dead ( specifically the four canopic jars that held the viscera of the dead for the afterlife) and is associated with healing and magic. She is a threshold guardian, linking her to liminal spaces, much as Scorpion itself is linked with the seen and unseen realms. The venom of the Scorpion is seen as destructive but also self-healing, locking Scorpion in a circle of endless renewal and endless death, as Paracelsus said: ‘The Scorpion Cures the Scorpion.’

Here, a jeweled body in the shape of an tear represents a vessel where the wearer’s burdens, grief, anxiety, uncertainty, fear, and other unpleasant emotions can be stored and carried by Scorpion. As metaphor, Scorpion carries this ‘darkness’ for the wearer and in theory ‘creates’ a kind of psyche silk inherent in the growth that generally comes along with experiencing painful, complex or uncomfortable situations and emotions.

Often feared with venom strong enough in some species to mortally poison man, this Scorpion acts as a protective talisman and also a talisman of transformation. As an added layer of meaning: Scorpion also speaks to the Shadow Self of Carl Jung’s ideas on ‘Inner Alchemy’. Its ability to transform, its destructive and links to the underworld ( realm of shades and shadows) underline the idea of the Shadow; which is seen as the repressed, unwanted or unaccepted parts of oneself. ‘Darkling, I Listen’ is a collection of jewels urging the wearer to move towards self-acceptance through the jewels as talismans. The process of individuation or transmutation is the process of becoming ‘whole’. For Jung, this didn’t mean becoming ‘good’, but becoming complete in the sense that one accepts all of their unconscious ‘faults’ as well as their experiences (their pasts) to become whole or complete. In ‘Inner Alchemy’ each phase of the alchemical process from antiquity was re-assigned new meanings: i.e. the quest for the philosopher's stone is truly a quest to become whole. In the 'Nigredo' process, everything is blackened, putrefied, 'killed' in a sense, to allow for new growth. It is during this phase in 'Inner Alchemy' that we are confronted with the knowledge our darker aspects, a phase in which we must accept our shadow selves. When we accept and acknowledge our more shadowy aspects, the parts of ourselves we have been conditioned to suppress, the parts of ourselves we hide from others as well as ourselves, we are on the path to wholeness. We become more accepting of our flaws, our darknesses. Having struggled with my own shadow self for many years, this talisman represents not only that long tangle with ‘darkness’, but our ability to become whole.

Details:

- 58mm in length

- 23mm in width  

- suspended from our signature bar link chain in the length of your choosing 

- pendant and chain are hand oxidized to achieve our shade of gloomy grey and highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

- 8 x 10mm pear cut faceted garnet

- solid sterling silver

Garnet is seemingly named for a few things, the most interesting and well known being that of the Pomegranate, named for either its glowing red color or its relational look to the seeds within when polished. This has tied it to the myth of the Goddess Persephone in some of its lore, who is as inseparable to the Pomegranate and its fateful seeds as Eve is to the apple of Eden. This association, admittedly, is what first drew me to Garnet, but its long and storied history, spanning many cultures and parts of the world is as fascinating as just about any other gemstone of my acquaintance. I also fell for its uncanny beauty, which  like a glowing ember one can wear on the skin, appears alive like fire does. 

As an ancient gemstone, the Egyptians knew of its power and beauty, which seems to be the seal of magical authenticity on the stone as it was found not only amongst grave goods but also within the settings of talismans wrapped in the layers of mummies to protect the body on its journey to the afterlife. I imagine it being present with its wearer before the weighing of the heart, as it’s a stone closely aligned with the heart ( akin in this way, to Rose Quartz. ) 

Created under extreme pressure and temperatures in the darkness of the subterranean realms, Garnet persists and thrives under these difficult circumstances - suggesting strength and personal resiliency. It’s also, like the Phoenix, associated with fire and its transformative properties, rising from extremely high temperatures. It’s considered to be a stone of creativity, as it’s ‘blood’ colored and associated with fire and the heart, ( as mentioned above) suggesting a quickening of the blood, a call to creative action, passion.

This passion also extends to both romantic and platonic relationships, the stone was given to strengthen bonds between friends and lovers due to its association with the Persephone myth in a strange nod to how Pomegranate seeds kept Persephone bond to the Underworld for part of the year/ being returned to the Upper realms for Spring/Summer, ( this also made it a traveler’s stone) as well as for its color being similar to heart’s blood. 

Another interesting bit : in the Medieval Ages it was considered to ward off Melancholy and also, interestingly, to be the material that Dragon’s eyes were made of. 

All in all, Garnet is a wildly magical and highly potent stone, beautiful, ancient and intense; a personal raging fire to keep close- to remind you that you belong to the land of the living. To quicken the blood when feeling otherwise. 

These jewels are hand cut and therefore may have very slight differences in size and may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. These are not fabricated by a machine, they are made by hand and therefore aren't uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stones and the cuts. 

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 5-6 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

Visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE.

If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com